It was news that every Dodger fan has been waiting a very long time to hear – 75 days to be exact. And even though it wasn’t the news we were all hoping for, it was definitely the next best thing.

Early Monday afternoon, longtime Dodgers beat writer Ken Gurnick posted on Twitter that both Dodger Stadium and Camelback Ranch-Glendale have opened their respective doors to allow Dodger players in “…for medical and rehab purposes.”

Again, this is not the news we were hoping to hear, but it is most certainly a step in the right direction and a good indication that a July 1 season opener is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Although Gurnick’s tweet clearly states that the purpose of the re-openings are to allow players to attend to lingering medical issues and/or to rehab from them, this is one of those ‘read-between-the-lines’ things. In other words, you can bet your very last dollar that (nearly) every Dodger player will be at one of the two facilities to prepare for what will most likely be an 82-game 2020 regular season and an expanded 2020 postseason, just as (nearly) every position player arrives at Camelback Ranch-Glendale when pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training even though they are not required to be there for another week.

“We just have a lot of restrictions and are kind of erring on the side of caution,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said of the safety protocols that will be in place at both facilities. “A number of our guys have opted against coming, but we do have a number of guys coming; staggering times and allowing guys to come in and throw off the mound or hit in the cage.”

“They basically have two or three guys coming at a time,” said Dodgers utility infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor about resuming baseball activities. “We get two-hour segments.”

Although a full resumption of baseball activities (i.e., Spring Training-2, as it is being called) is still pending an agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association (which will most likely occur within the next few days), the openings of Dodger Stadium and Camelback-Ranch-Glendale can only be seen as good news and a strong indication that…

Play Ball!

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